WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Highly-touted Boilermaker forward Ae’Rianna Harris didn’t disappoint in her freshman campaign, shattering a Purdue women’s basketball record and finishing as one of the nation’s best rim protectors. The Indianapolis native rejected a Boilermaker freshman record 75 shots in 2016-17, good for second-most in the NCAA among first-years and tops in the Big Ten Conference.

Harris averaged 2.08 blocks per game in her freshman season, becoming the first Boilermaker to average at least two per game since current Purdue assistant coach and two-time honorable mention All-America Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton in 2007. Harris is also 1-of-7 freshman in program history to lead the team in blocked shots. In addition to her rim-protector duties, Harris also led the Boilermakers with a 52.4 field goal percentage and added 7.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Harris joined the starting lineup for the final 10 games of the season, helping the squad to an 8-2 record and impressive runs in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments. She tied Purdue’s Big Ten Tournament single-game record with five blocks in a second-round win over Illinois and set the Boilermakers’ single-tournament record with eight rejections. She fell just shy of a double-double in both of Purdue’s NCAA Tournament games, going 6-for-6 en route to 12 points and seven boards against Green Bay, and notching 12 points and eight rebounds vs. Notre Dame.